1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to millimeter-wave (MMW) circuit technology, and more particularly, to a distributed active transformer (DAT) based millimeter-wave power amplifier circuit designed for power amplification of MMW frequency signals.
2. Description of Related Art
With the advent of wireless digital communication technologies, such as wireless networking, mobile phones, GPS (Global Positioning System), to name just a few., the design and manufacture of MMW (millimeter wave) signal processing circuitry that handle analog and digital signals within the gigahertz range is in high demand in the electronics industry. Presently, the demand for high-speed MMW signal processing circuitry has advanced to the range from 60 GHz to 77 GHz (gigahertz).
In the design of MMW circuitry, power amplifiers are an essential circuit component that is used for power amplification of MMW frequency signals. In order to achieve and offer high-speed performance, the design of MMW power amplifiers requires the capability of providing a constant gain across a broad bandwidth. In addition, since most of MMW signal processing circuits are to be utilized on portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, the MMW circuit design also requires the capability of low power consumption and compactness in size.
Presently, there are a great variety of conventional MMW power amplifiers which can be fabricated by various integrated circuit technologies such as SiGe 0.13 μm (millimeter) BiCMOS, SiGe 0.118 μm BiCMOS, and CMOS 90 nm (nanometer) fabrication technologies. In design, MMW power amplifiers are widely constructed on DAT (distributed active transformer) circuitry, cascode circuitry, and multiple-stage circuitry. However, these conventional MMW power amplifiers are still unable to provide satisfactory amplification gains and saturated power levels. Therefore, there still exists a need in the electronic industry for new and improved MMW power amplifier circuits that can provide better performance over the conventional technologies.